Learn how to do handwriting practice the right way

Is your child working towards a pen licence?

Do you feel your child hasn’t quite fully grasped how to write neatly?

Is your child beginning to avoid writing?

There is a right and a wrong way to improve handwriting

In this article, I will show you how to make changes to your child’s handwriting that will give them a massive difference in just 24 hours.

Between the ages of seven and eight years, handwriting is all about fine tuning. Your child should’ve already mastered the fundamentals of pencil grip, letter formation and word spaces.

Teachers expect words to be clearly written on the line. Letters will either stand tall or go below the line.

From now on, handwriting is all about legibility and content. And the dreaded ‘pen licence’. This phrase may start to appear in your conversations with your child. Pen licences are designed to promote “good” handwriting. But they also discourage children who find handwriting difficult.

In school your child will be having less and less time practising how to write. They will probably be only getting 30 minutes practice a week. The problem is those that need more time will not be getting it.

How handwriting practice at home, can you improve your kids aged 7 to 8 years’ handwriting?

Teach the cat

Imagine that there is a cat sitting on a line. Its head goes up to the top of the line. The cats tail goes below the line. Tall letters need to go up to the cat’s ears. Letters that go below the line e.g. the letter p, go down to the cat’s tail. This is how the cat can teach letter size.

Squared graph paper

Writing on this paper reduces the size of finger gaps that were previously taught for word spaces. A square grid provides a visual guide. Helping your child to improve their letter legibility.

Checklist

Ask your child to review their own work. Children aged 7 to 8 years should easily be able to do this. Self-reflection helps kids identify the changes they need to make. Especially helpful for when you are not around to guide them.

Maze puzzles

These games help develop eye hand coordination and pencil control skills but in a fun way. Both are essentials for handwriting excellence.

Crosswords

You can help teach letter size to your child by encouraging them to do crosswords. The boxes in which they have to write the letters act as a visual guide. It will help them write with smaller letters.

Mistakes (what NOT to do when doing handwriting practice with your child)

Rushing

Letter size is a skill in itself. It needs to be learnt. Children need time to master this. Often it is presumed by many that it will naturally develop. This will not happen without your guidance.

Pressure

Pressing too heavily can cause pain in the hand. This is due to the pencil grip being too tight. You can teach pen pressure by using light up pens. These are special pens, available off the Internet that have a light at the end of the pencil/pen. If the light comes on then your child has been pressing too heavily. Pressing heavily should be avoided at all times.

A slouching child

Sitting posture plays a big part in having neat handwriting. If your child is writing without their feet on the floor then pen control is lost. By changing the seating position your child will improve how well they write.

Let me tell you about Ethan

Ethan is a delightful boy who enjoyed drawing but disliked writing. During his school year he started to try and avoid handwriting. He would ask for a drink of water. Ask to go to the toilet. Say that he needed to sharpen his pencil. Or try and distract others from writing. Ethan feared failure.

Both his Mum and I worked with him. We concentrated on improving his letter size. Ethan was shown the cat method. This simple technique helped transform his writing. Encouraging him to review his own work, helped him quickly make progress.

Ethan continues to enjoy drawing. Handwriting is still not his favourite subject but he no longer tries to avoid it.

To summarise kids handwriting practice 7 to 8 years

It is possible to improve handwriting in just 24 hours. By following the steps above your child’s handwriting practice can make significant improvements. The cat method works exceptionally well and for kids who are beginning to not like writing. Mazes and crosswords can be a parent’s secret tool.

Get Set Write Club – Monthly Handwriting Club

Mums, Dads, Guardians – let me make an educated guess, you’re wondering how to help your child to overcome one or more of the most common writing problems.

Whatever your child’s writing problem, this club is the answer.

Print & go resources!

Welcome to a world of resources for working alongside your child. You’ll start by identifying and understanding what your child really needs to focus on and be signposted to the right videos, worksheets and workbooks to take on those stubborn road blocks that previously stood in the way of progress.

New resources are added every month to keep your child engaged with fresh, exciting challenges. As a parent, you also have a monthly Q&A sessions.

Like hundreds of other kids, your child will come on in leaps and bounds the effectiveness of my unique handwriting font is the reason why I’ve been nominated for awards.